Restaurant review: Thali probably isn’t worth crossing town for but it’s fair value if you live nearby.

Leftovers: Thali is still furnished from its Bar Asia days

I admit it, I’m a lager drinker. I take some small, twisted pleasure from the look of mild disgust on a waiter’s face in a posh restaurant when I eschew the champagne trolley in favour of a nicely chilled bottle of Kronenbourg 1664. But that doesn’t make me a beer-swilling, dunderheaded Neanderthal sports fan. I appreciate good wine, too.

So I’m beginning to lose my rag when a third staff member tries to remove our wine glasses. This wouldn’t be happening if I was sipping a gin and tonic, and I’ve already explained twice that I’m planning to order a bottle from the leatherette-bound list emblazoned with Bar Asia – the name of the previous incarnation of what is now described as a ‘north Indian restaurant’.

There are other leftovers from the Bar Asia days. Namely, a row of Thai golden statues, lined up in the corner of the high-ceilinged, narrow dining room dominated by a large service bar and a stairway to the dimly lit (and unoccupied) basement bar, leaving room for just 20-odd diners. It’s a strangely uninviting space but comfortable enough with banquette seating and linen-covered tables.

In the end, we order the cheapest bottle on the concise list, a perfectly serviceable South African chenin blanc for a reasonable £17. There’s little point drinking expensive, complex wines with the sort of robustly spiced food served by Taj Hotels-trained head chef Dila Ram, it would only kill all those pricey aromas and flavours stone dead.

Although apparently specialising in food from the north, it’s a Goan-style prawn balchao from the south-west of the subcontinent that’s the stand-out starter. The only disappointing thing about the plump shellfish in a well-balanced sweet, sour and spicy masala is the stingy portion size.

Conversely, we could do with less of a bland, soft shell crab which tastes as though it’s been deep fried in a coating of bran flakes (actually semolina soaked in ‘chilly [sic] ginger garlic’) and is accompanied by a pointless red cabbage and mange tout garnish.

Two items from the tandoor fail to deliver the almost-scorched flavour that usually typifies the cooking method. A wholewheat roti could have been a little more blackened and blistered, while a too-pale chicken pankhi kebab has the slightly metallic taste indicative of a heavy hand with the saffron.

Despite the restaurant’s name, there’s just one vegetarian and one non-vegetarian thali on the menu, the latter consisting of two curries, a dhal, rice, raita, potatoes in a spicy vegetable gravy, papadum and ‘chef’s choice of dessert’. At £20, it’s fair value for the upmarket area but we’re tempted by other, more unusual main course choices.

A karbahari fish curry is judged too creamy by its recipient, although the chef’s wise decision to use dense, meaty halibut means the flesh hasn’t overcooked in the coconut milk-rich, aromatic sauce. However, a venison bhuna is bang on the money; tender chunks of meat in a gloriously earthy, deeply flavoured marinade/sauce that’s reminiscent of a ‘dry’ Malaysian rendang curry.

But desserts of gulab jamun and pistachio kulfi (which our waitress claims is made in-house but is the same conical shape and pale green colour as the picture on the laminated dessert menu at my local tandoori) aren’t worth the calories.

Despite the urge to remove our wine glasses, service is utterly charming. Our refusal of what is obviously the worst table in the restaurant is handled with grace. Although the meal takes a good two-and-a-half hours, there’s a natural flow to the evening and we never feel neglected. Thali is probably not worth crossing town for but if it’s your local, start quietly rejoicing. Andy Lynes

A meal for two with wine, water and tip costs about £100. 166 Old Brompton Road. Tel: 020 7373 2626. Tube: Gloucester Road